


Our Only Valentine

by Alex (starrysebIos)



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Character Death, Closure, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Heartbreak, Investigations, M/M, Non-binary Seb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:26:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22363327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrysebIos/pseuds/Alex
Summary: Seb and Carlos are spending their first Valentine's Day together as a couple but everything changes when Seb suddenly leaves and doesn't come back.
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Our Only Valentine

Carlos continued to glance at his phone impatiently, legs swinging excitedly from the couch. Then his gaze drifted to the clock to read 1:17 pm. He bit his lip as he felt a hint of anxiety but that almost instantly subsided upon hearing the doorbell. Carlos jumped to his feet and joyfully skipped to the front door grabbing a bouquet of colorful flowers on the way. He opened the door to see Seb, their blonde hair shining in the sunlight.

"Hey!" they greeted happily.

"Sebby!" he handed the bouquet over to them. "These are for you."

Looking at the flowers their eyes lit up, then they looked at Carlos. "But I'm staying over."

Carlos shrugged. "For when you go back."

Seb laughed and stepped inside. They wrapped their arms around Carlos and he hugged them back without hesitation.

"Happy Valentine's Day." Seb whispered, resting their head on Carlos' shoulder.

Carlos tightened his embrace in response holding them closer.  
Seb always did give the best hugs.  
They both pulled away after a few seconds. Carlos eyed the bouquet in Seb's hand.

"We should put those somewhere." he said

Carlos lead them into the kitchen where he grabbed a vase and filled it with water. Seb handed him the flowers and Carlos carefully placed them inside. He left the vase on the kitchen counter before turning back to Seb.

"So I booked a table at your favourite restaurant for dinner tonight and I was thinking after we could watch a movie!" Carlos said enthusiastically.

Seb beamed earning a brighter smile from Carlos.

"So.. how have you been?" Seb asked.

"Good, I've been good.. And you?"

Carlos felt a sudden tension in the air. Something left unsaid that had to be said.

"Yeah I've been great." Seb smiled again making Carlos' heart flutter.

He gathered the strength to say what he was thinking.

"I'm sorry about what happened Sebby." he paused looking down at the floor. "I shouldn't have pushed you away like I did- I wasn't in a good place and I didn't want to drag you down with me."

Seb stepped towards him, wrapping him in another loving embrace. Carlos leant into them.  
Seb pulled away to look at him.  
"It's okay, and I'm sorry if I made things harder for you. But we're here with eachother now, and I'm not going to leave." Seb suppressed a giggle. "Was that sappy?"

"No that was really sweet!" Carlos exclaimed. "I'm so glad we've fixed things."

"Me too." Seb replied.

They lowered their hands to join fingers with Carlos. He lightly squeezed their hands and glimpsed at their light pink eyeshadow.

"So can I get you anything?" he asked.

"Would water be okay?"

Carlos frowned. "Yeah of course but are you sure you just want water?"

They nodded. "We can have fancier drinks later."

Carlos nodded. He opened a cupboard revealing rows of cups, mugs and glasses of varying sizes. He thoughtlessly grabbed one, filled it with water then handed it to Seb.

"Thanks." he smiled and took a sip.

Suddenly Seb's eyes widened.

"What's up?" Carlos asked. "Is the water bad? I'm sorry I could try the bathroom tap if you prefer-"

Seb cut him off. "No the water is fine, I just.. remembered something. I'll be back in a minute."

Seb placed the glass of water down onto the kitchen counter then hurriedly walked out of the house.  
Carlos frowned again. He made his way to the window where he saw Seb opening his car and crawling inside. Carlos briefly lifted his eyes up at the clear blue sky and smiled a little. Then he heard the front door open again so he turned to look at Seb.  
They looked sad, maybe disappointed.

"Are you okay?" Carlos asked, concern clear in his voice.

"I have to go somewhere." Seb stated.

They noticed the confusion mixed with worry in Carlos' eyes.

"I won't be gone long and I'll come straight back, I promise."

A smile formed across Carlos' face. "Can I come with you?"

Seb hesitated for a moment. "Not really."

His heart sunk in his chest and his anxiety from earlier returned. "Did something happen? Have I done something?"

"No, you're amazing." Seb assured him with a sincere smile. "You'll see why! It won't take long."

"Okay, I'll see you soon then." Carlos smiled back.

Seb nodded at him then turned and quickly left the house again. Carlos stared at Seb's car as they drove down the road and out of sight. He sighed, turning away deep in thought about the possible reasons for them leaving.  
Had Carlos done something? Was it the talk about their temporary breakup?  
Seb had said that it was nothing bad but there was a spark of doubt in Carlos' head.  
He shook himself out of it.

Almost an hour had passed since Seb had left. Regardless of what they'd said Carlos was certain he'd done something that upset them.  
He worriedly tapped his black painted nails on the kitchen counter beside Seb's glass of water. He let out a quick sigh. Carlos grabbed his phone beside him and lit up the screen hoping to see a message from Seb but there was nothing. He decided to send a text, asking if they were okay and if they were almost home.  
Carlos placed his phone back down next to him screen facing up.

It'd been over an hour since Seb had left now and Carlos' worry was rapidly increasing. He found himself checking his phone several times a minute desperately hoping he'd see a text or a voicemail from them confirming that they were okay. To say that they were on their way back to him right now.  
Although he couldn't help but ponder the reasons why they might have left in the first place or why they were late returning.  
Carlos walked over to the window and looked out, scanning the street for any sign of Seb or their car. Still nothing like every other time he'd checked in the past hour.  
Carlos was becoming even more fidgety, unable to sit or stand still for more than a few seconds. The thought that Seb had left, that maybe they thought getting back together was a mistake relentlessly haunted him.  
They'd got back together just over a week ago and everything seemed perfect. But maybe he was wrong.  
Carlos took a deep breath. He was overthinking. Calmly he glanced at his phone again, heart jumping a little as the screen lit up but still nothing from Seb.  
Carlos scrolled through his contact list until he found Seb's number. His finger hesitantly hovered over the call button for a moment until he finally forced himself to dial them. He held the phone to his ear, briefly thinking about how much he was overreacting.  
Carlos heard a few beeps, tapping his feet on the carpet until he heard Seb's voice from the other side. His heart skipped a beat but after a few seconds realised that it was just their answer machine, not actually them.  
Carlos pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up. He quickly glimpsed at his texts to see that they still hadn't been read before placing his phone back down again.  
Gradually he could feel himself accepting deep down that they probably weren't coming back. But then he kept remembering how they'd said they weren't gonna leave, and that they promised they'd come straight back after whatever their reason was for leaving.

His phone buzzed immediately drawing his attention. Carlos picked it up, expecting to see that Seb was calling but instead saw Gina. His eyes narrowed slightly in confusion but he answered.

"Gina what's up?" he tried to sound cheerful.

He didn't receive an immediate answer, just deep breathing for a few seconds. Carlos' grip on his phone tightened.

"Carlos." she was crying, he noticed instantly. "Carlos I'm- I'm so sorry."

Her voice kept breaking. Her heavy breathing continued as if she was trying to calm herself down. Carlos felt a lump form in his throat.

"What's wrong? Why are you sorry? Did something happen, are you okay?" he could feel desperation rapidly rising up within his chest.

"Seb was in a car accident." she said, the words tumbling out of her mouth all at once.

A wave of disbelief washed over him. It took a few long seconds to properly realise what she'd said. Carlos felt a sting behind his eyes so he closed them tightly.

"But they're okay?" Carlos forced himself to ask but deep down he knew the answer. He could feel it.

"They're.." Gina started but stopped, unable to finish her sentence. Unable to say the exact words.  
"No, I'm so sorry."

"No." Carlos whispered in shock and disbelief.

"Carlos.."

"No, Gina."

She sighed deeply, momentarily calming her breathing. "If you need anything, please let me know, okay?" her voice broke at the end.

He wanted to scream but he suppressed it, clenching his fists.

"Okay." was all he managed to say before hanging up.

Tears were streaming down his face and he hadn't even noticed. Carlos wiped them away. He didn't know what to think. He just stared in stunned silence for a moment, a light buzzing in his ears.  
He refused to believe it. Seb was probably just pranking him right? Carlos nodded to himself. That had to be it. They were probably with Gina right now, preparing to step through his door in 10 minutes with a bright smile.

Carlos' hands were shaking but he opened his chat conversation with Seb; they'd probably read his texts and not answered because that would ruin the joke.

He looked. Unread.

Carlos inhaled a shaky breath, desperately trying to convince himself that it meant nothing. Maybe they hadn't looked at their phone.  
He kept trying to convince himself but he could feel the lie slipping away and the truth setting in. Carlos fought against it, repeating in his head that Seb was okay. Everything was fine. They'd come straight back, they weren't gonna leave him.

His phone buzzed and a text notification from Gina appeared asking if he wanted to come over.  
Finally it hit him. Seb wasn't coming back.  
Carlos felt the urge to scream again and questions suddenly piled in his head. Why did they leave, where were they going, how did it happen. Why couldn't he go with them.  
He messaged Gina back.  
"I'll be there."

He found himself looking back over his unread texts to Seb, asking where they were, if they were okay, if they were coming back and he couldn't help but wonder- did it happen before he sent them? After? Before his phone call?  
How long was it until Gina found out? Or until she told him?

Slowly he brushed his finger down the screen still in shock. He scrolled up through their past conversations together. Carlos carefully read through each of Seb's texts and responses, reminiscing back to those moments. A few days ago they finished planning this Valentine's Day together. He remembered the overwhelming excitement that he'd felt then and even hours ago before Seb had arrived.  
Carlos felt light-headed. Just over an hour ago he was hugging Seb, happier than he'd been in so long, and now he'd never felt more heartbroken.  
Each text he looked over was like a part of Seb frozen in time and Carlos treasured each one, even if they were just words typed on a screen.  
He forced himself to put his phone down. He felt physically sick, a pit forming in his stomach. His mouth and throat were painfully dry.  
Carlos walked back into the kitchen to get a drink when his eyes fell on Seb's glass of water stood perfectly still on the kitchen counter. For a quick second Carlos wanted to push it off the side, shattering it, but he stopped himself.  
He tore his attention away from it and over to the sink but beside that were the flowers in the vase, the flowers he'd bought for Seb. Carlos clamped his eyes shut using his hands to steady himself against the counter. His breathing hitched.  
Carlos swiftly pulled himself away and stepped out of the kitchen. He took a few deep breaths, grabbed his phone then left to go to Gina's.

The sun was slowly being shrouded by grey clouds above Carlos as he distractedly walked down the street. He was facing down at the walkway just vaguely aware of where he was going and who was around him. He listened to the animated conversations taking place on the streets. It was strange how everyone else was living their normal lives happy and unaffected, but Carlos felt like a huge part of him had been ripped out.  
He couldn't even cry anymore. He felt confused, but mostly just empty.

Finally he found himself stood infront of Gina's front door. Carlos knocked a few times then withdrew his hand and waited for a moment until the door opened. Gina shivered as she was exposed to the cold breeze. Their eyes met instantly and he noticed how red her eyes were from crying.

"Carlos." she said quietly completely devoid of any energy or enthusiasm.

"Gina." he responded and realised that he sounded the same.

She reached out her hand and grabbed his softly. He squeezed it then stepped inside.

"How are you.. feeling?" he asked unsure of where to start. He'd barely been able to take it all in during the past 20 minutes, although they'd felt like hours.

She opened her mouth as if to say something but stopped herself and instead launched herself at Carlos wrapping him in a tight hug. He returned it instantly, each of them burying their faces into eachother's shoulders. She was shaking slightly in his arms so he assumed she was crying.  
Seb meant so much to Gina, they were almost like siblings. They'd both spend so much time together. Carlos remembered all those times when Seb would give Carlos a container full of delicious cookies or cakes that they'd baked with Gina for him. He also knew they'd spent a lot of time with Gina during their breakup and she'd been amazing in supporting both Seb and Carlos.  
Gina was also one of Carlos' closest friends. All three of them spent so much time together.  
Now as they both stood there hugging eachother tightly it really felt like a part of them was missing.

They both eventually sat down together after a few minutes. Gina had calmed down but occasionally a tear would roll down her cheek.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently.

Carlos remained silent.

"It could help." she added.

He let out a deep sigh and nodded.  
"Do you know how it happened?" he questioned hesitantly.

She shook her head.

"Was it... instant?"

She smiled solemnly "I think so." Gina nodded slowly.

Carlos clenched his fists. He wanted to know how it happened, how much pain did Seb feel, what were their last thoughts, what were their final words. Had they said anything after they left? Something tightened around his heart at the thought of their last words being to Carlos telling him how amazing they thought he was and that they wouldn't be gone for long.

"Can I ask you something?"

Carlos looked back up at her and nodded.

"Why were they out? I thought you two were spending the day together."

"We were. They left but they wouldn't tell me where to or why. They just promised they'd come back quickly."

Gina held his hand again rubbing circles with her thumb. He noticed how cold she was.

"I can't help but think.." Carlos began, drawing Gina's eyes to look at him. He continued to stare at their hands. "None of this would've happened if I'd somehow convinced them to stay. Or maybe if I'd gone with them."

"Then you could've died too!" she exclaimed.

They both froze, dwelling on the word she'd finally managed to say. Died.  
Carlos' heart felt heavy in his chest.

"Don't blame yourself." she whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"We were meant to spend so much more time together, do so many more things." Carlos whispered

Suddenly he was able to cry again and he couldn't hold back the tears once he did.

"We have a fucking dinner reservation tonight!" he cried. "And we were gonna watch a movie together.."

Carlos couldn't bring himself to talk anymore. The lump in his throat stung painfully.

Gina sniffled beside his head. "Do you want to stay over?"  
He nodded.

The day passed relatively quickly. Carlos spent most of his time lying in the spare bed in Gina's room. She agreed to leave him for a while; they both needed some time alone. Gina was downstairs most of the time (her bedroom was upstairs) doing some housework that she'd previously abandoned upon hearing about Seb's death.  
Every so often Carlos would check his phone to see messages from his other friends about Seb. He appreciated them all reaching out however he lacked the necessary energy to reply to any of them. He'd do it tomorrow.  
Truthfully there was only one person he wanted to see a message from but now he realised he'd never receive a text from them ever again. Or a phone call. Or anything.  
Carlos would never get to hear their voice again or see their beautiful smile.  
Exhaustion washed over him as several tears trickled down his face. Closing his eyes, he drifted into sleep.

A loud crash shattered the silence. Carlos' heart stopped for a second then continued beating twice as fast. He kept his eyes tightly shut.  
Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Carlos!" a voice loudly whispered next to him.

He opened his eyes to see Gina kneeling beside him on the floor

"Nightmare?" she asked as she eyed the blanket that he'd kicked off in his sleep. Gina gently pulled it back over him.

"I heard a crash.." he said in response.

Carlos looked at her and she silently stared back. He assumed her silence meant she hadn't heard anything which drew him to a conclusion that caused his eyes to well up with tears.

"Did I dream about it? About Seb?" he questioned horrified.

"Carlos.."

He pushed himself into a sitting position. Gina held his trembling hands and sat on the bed beside him.

"I'm constantly asking myself how it happened, when it happened, why they left." Carlos admitted with a shaky voice.

"I don't think it's good for you to think about it." she whispered rubbing circles into his hands.

"I can't help it." he sighed. "But I have to find out."

"Won't that just make you feel worse?"

"It'll give me some peace of mind. I just have to Gina."

She shuffled off the bed and began walking towards the bedroom door. Before she left she turned back to face him.  
"I'll do some digging."

"No Gina you don't have to."

"I will. For you."  
She smiled, and for the first time in what seemed like forever he felt a little warmth spread through him.

It was 9am the next morning when Carlos woke up again. Immediately he noticed that Gina's bed was empty.  
Hurriedly Carlos climbed out of bed and walked downstairs. He glanced into the living room to see that it was empty then stepped into the kitchen but still couldn't find Gina.  
Carlos frowned, confused by her absence.  
Scanning the kitchen Carlos noticed a few unclean dishes and cutlery alongside an abandoned glass of water. For a brief moment he thought back to Seb's glass of water back at his house still stood undisturbed on his kitchen counter. His heart burned slightly.  
Carlos drew his eyes away until they landed on the calendar. A certain day caught his eye- February 18th. It had a ring drawn around it in blue pen. Carlos looked closer to read "Baking day with Seb!!"  
Tears threatened to escape his eyes but he held them back. Eventually he gazed out the window and into Gina's garden to see her sat on a chair in a corner under the shade of a tree staring down at her phone with a wishful expression.

Carlos opened the door and stepped outside. The air felt cold and still as if frozen. Grey clouds hovered above them.  
Gina continued to stare at her phone seemingly oblivious to his presence.

"Gina!" Carlos called out as he walked over to her.

Finally she looked up at him with watery eyes.  
"Oh, hey."

"Are you okay?" he asked even though he knew she wasn't and neither was he. How could they be okay.

"I was just looking at this picture of us." she replied and turned her phone towards him.

A feeling of desperate longing formed as he looked at the picture of Seb and Gina stood side by side smiling brightly.

"I think I remember that day.." he muttered.

"School rehearsals." Gina stated pulling her phone back so she could look at it again. "One of our last."

She smiled to herself before putting her phone away in her pocket.  
She's looked back up at Carlos. "I did some digging."

"And?"

"It happened around 2pm. Apparently their car swerved off the road. They seemed to be driving too fast when they took a turn." Gina explained in a cold manner.

Carlos stood frozen in thought. It happened before he even sent a message. Tears fell as he dwelled on that thought- he'd texted Seb worried about when they would come back but they were already gone.

Carlos was interrupted from his thoughts by a droplet of rain that landed on his cheek. He lifted his hand to wipe it away then looked up at the dark clouds above as more rained down.

"Let's go inside." Gina said grabbing Carlos' hand and gently pulling him back into the kitchen.

"Will you stop now?" Gina questioned when they were inside.

"Why would I stop?"

"Because this is clearly hurting you a lot."

Carlos couldn't deny that she was right but there was still one more thing he had to know.  
"I need to find out why they left."

"Does it matter?"

"I need to know." Carlos stated. "I don't want to keep questioning whether they were leaving me or not when I could find out."

Gina sighed. "They wouldn't leave you."

"That's what I want to think."

"They talked about you a lot."

Carlos' face softened.

"During your breakup when we spent time together. They always talked about how they wanted you to stop pushing them away. They always wanted to reconnect with you even if you didn't believe it." she explained.

"We never got a proper chance to." Carlos whispered in defeat.

"I'm sorry.."

He took a few deep breaths and wiped away the lone tears that slowly trickled down his cheeks.  
"I can't think of where they'd go." he said.

"Their house? Or to see someone." Gina suggested.

"They said I couldn't go with them. Why wouldn't I be able to go with them to their house?" Carlos questioned. "They said they had to go somewhere so it was important."

"I don't know.."

Their conversation was interrupted by the distant sound of Carlos' phone ringing from Gina's bedroom.  
Carlos was filled with an urgency to see who was calling him even though he knew it couldn't be Seb. But the smallest part of him hoped.

"I'll be right back." he said before leaving the kitchen.  
He hastily climbed the stairs and into Gina's room. His phone screen was lit up.  
Carlos quickly walked over and looked down to see that Nini was calling him.  
He didn't know her that well but her and Seb were like best friends so they'd all hung out a few times. Gina and Nini got along really well too.  
For some reason he hesitated to pick up the phone but he forced himself to.

"Nini?" Carlos said nervously.

"Carlos, finally. I've been calling you for ages." she stated.

"Sorry I was with Gina."

"How are you? Both of you?"

He burst into tears then and he didn't know why. Something about being asked if he was okay always made Carlos cry when he wasn't.  
"Barely keeping it together."

"Yeah. Yeah me too." her voice broke. "I don't know what to do."

"Me neither."

A brief moment of silence passed between them. There was a question at the front of his mind that distracted his thoughts once again. He had to ask.  
"Nini, I'm sorry to ask this but do you know where Seb was going?"

"What do you mean?"

"It happened after they temporarily left my house but they didn't say where they were going."

"Oh."

"So I was wondering if you knew?"

"I don't, I'm sorry. But I would assume their house." she replied.

"Thanks anyway. I should go, call me if you need anything?"

"Okay. Same for you or Gina."

Carlos ended the call and put his phone back down. He gazed out the window with an absent mind. The rain was much heavier now, constantly pounding on the window and distorting the view with the running water.  
Carlos decided he'd have to go to Seb's house. It would be painful but maybe he'd find something there.

"I'm going to Seb's house." Carlos stated after walking into the living room to see Gina sat on the couch.

"Why?" she queried.

He shrugged hopelessly. "The only place I can think of they might've been driving to. I asked Nini on the phone but she didn't know."

Gina nodded. "How is she?"

"The same as us. She said we can phone her if we need anything."

"Okay.." she said then stared out the window for a moment. The rain continued to pour down heavily. "Should I drive you?"

"It's okay I'll walk."

"In this weather? You'll get sick."

"I need to go alone, Gina. Please."

She nodded again. He could tell she wanted to object but restrained herself from doing so. Carlos began walking towards the door when he suddenly felt her hand grab his shoulder.

"Take this." Gina instructed handing him her coat.

"Thanks."

He quickly put it on and lifted the hood to shield his head as best as it could.

"And come back when you're ready." she then stared into his eyes expectantly.

"Of course." he nodded.

Hesitantly Gina released him. Carlos turned away from her, opened the door and stepped out into the rain.

Each raindrop tapped loudly on his hood. He heard the faint sound of Gina's door closing drowned out by the heavy rainfall.  
The walk to Seb's house wasn't far from here; Carlos remembered how often Seb, Gina and him would walk between their houses together. However the rain might make the journey seem longer.  
Carlos tapped his pocket to ensure he had his phone and felt its familiar outline. Occasionally a car would drive past, each a painful reminder of what had unfortunately happened yesterday. He still imagined how Seb might have felt in their last moments, what their last words and thoughts were, whether they'd accepted death. Carlos tried not to think about it but he really couldn't stop himself. It was the only thought on his mind.

He also couldn't help but think about the possibility of Seb driving away without the intention of returning to him. To stay at home for the rest of the day or spend it with Nini or any of their other friends. But Gina told him not to believe that and Seb had said that they'd be straight back. That they weren't gonna leave him.  
Carlos noticed that some of the water running down his face wasn't just from the rain but also from his tears. He didn't know when he'd started crying but he didn't care. That had been happening a lot lately.

Glancing at the road as he walked by, Carlos contemplated if it would've been better had he been in the car with Seb. Maybe by some miracle he could've prevented it from happening. Or at least, if it had still happened, Carlos would likely be with them now and not have to endure this endless pain of loss.  
Would he even care if a car swerved off the road and hit him now? At least then he could be with Seb.  
Carlos tried to push the thought down and bury it within him. He didn't want that to happen- no matter how much he missed Seb and wanted so badly to be with them again, he could never do that to Gina or any of the others.

While thinking about the car he remembered what Gina had recounted about Seb driving too fast. Why was that? Were they trying to return as quickly as possible or get away as quickly as possible? Carlos didn't even know if the accident had happened on their way to wherever they were going or on their way back.  
And his biggest question- why did they leave?

He stopped. The rain fell around him creating an oddly calming background sound to his thoughts.  
Was this really worth it? He asked himself wondering what good it would do to find out their reasons for leaving. Carlos considered how he'd feel if he found an answer that he didn't want to be true.  
After what seemed like only a few seconds of walking head down in the rain Carlos finally looked up ahead of him to see the familiar muddy path that lead up to Seb's house. He just stared at it for a moment. All the happiness and energy of the house had faded already. Whenever he gazed upon it Carlos would immediately be reminded of Seb and all the happy memories they'd made together inside.  
But now all he saw was a silent, empty house. The first detail he noticed was that Seb's car wasn't parked outside.  
Carlos looked back over his shoulder at the way he came. For a moment he considered going back to Gina, abandoning his question of why Seb had left.  
But he stopped himself. Carlos didn't want the mystery to remain unanswered for the rest of his life.

As if fragile, Carlos carefully opened the door to Seb's house with the spare key they'd entrusted him with. He gripped it tight making he sure he'd never let it go.  
The serenity and stillness of the house was deeply unsettling to him. Whenever he'd visited there'd always been an active energy coursing through the building.  
Carlos made a beeline towards Seb's bedroom. He didn't want to stay longer than he had to which broke his heart; he never thought he'd say that about Seb's house.  
He'd come back here someday with Nini and Gina he decided.

Carlos scanned the room unwilling to linger for too long. Eventually his gaze landed upon a small box wrapped in wrapping paper decorated with several different colored hearts. Stuck ontop of the present was a folded note that said "Carlos" on the front in Seb's handwriting.  
He frowned, almost scared to pick it up.  
He sighed. He had to read it.

With a shaky hand Carlos picked up the note. He was tempted unwrap and open the present but decided to read the note first.  
For a small moment he stared at his name written in Seb's writing. He studied each letter, Seb's unique style of writing, before finally unfolding it.  
Teary eyed, Carlos read the note.

_Dear Carlos,  
Hopefully by the time you read this I will have already left your house after our Valentine's Day together but I know how curious you'll be to read this.  
Anyway, I wanted to give you this present to celebrate our first (of many) Valentine's Days together!  
It's not much but I hope you like it.  
Now open the present! The rest of this message is inside :)_

Carlos had to take a second to process everything. This was still in Seb's house, and they intended for him to read it after they'd spent the day together when Carlos was alone so..  
Had Seb accidentally left this here? Forgotten to bring it with them to Carlos' house then realised and came back to get it. Carlos also remembered how Seb said he couldn't go with them, because otherwise that would mean Carlos would see the present.  
They really weren't leaving him. Seb was going back for this.  
Carlos placed the note down beside the present and desperately ripped off the wrapping paper. There was a small cardboard box beneath. He opened it as fast as he could to see a photograph of him and Seb together in a beautifully shining frame. Beside that was the end of Seb's note.

_I know this is a selfie but! it's still my favourite picture of us both :)  
To end this I want to say how much you mean to me, Carlos. Despite our rough month recently, you are and always will be my favourite person. I've been the happiest I've ever been since meeting you and I'm a better person because of it.  
I love you so much.  
Seb ♡_

Carlos held the note tightly in his right hand and the framed photo in his left.  
He was shaking, tears streaming down his face. He didn't bother trying to hold them back or wipe them away.  
His heart was shattered and it felt like a huge part of him was missing forever. But at the same time, after reading that, he felt strangely whole again since Seb's death. And relieved to know that Seb wasn't leaving him. They didn't lie to him at all. They were going to come back, just with this.  
Carlos brought the note closer and held it to his heart, promising to never let go. He'd treasure it forever.  
Carlos spoke out, the words _I love you_ leaving his lips.


End file.
